The Best Present Ever
by Keegan Elizabeth
Summary: A Mother's Day fic. Gris/Sara. Abby from The Cookie Monster is back!


A/N: I first want to thank the lovely Becky (**BeckyCSI**) for the beta/read-through.

A/N2: Happy Mother's Day (a day early!) to all the moms on this site! I hope you have a lovely Sunday and fabulous day. Go treat yourself to a spa manicure/pedicure! To everyone else (and well the moms included), I hope that you enjoy this story!

Disclaimer: I hereby claim under due stress that I do not own CSI.

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_Abby's POV_

After opening their bedroom door, I tiptoed in quietly. When I reached my daddy's side of the bed, I whispered, "Daddy, Daddy," in barely restrained excitement.

It was six o'clock in the morning. Mommy had been teaching me how to tell time. I knew it was early, but I was too excited to sleep any longer. Besides, I had been up for what seemed like forever already. Today was a special day.

"Daddy?" I whispered again, this time reaching up to touch my daddy's beard. I loved to touch it –it felt weird. When he would tuck me in and kiss me goodnight, his beard always made me laugh since it tickled.

With his eyes still closed, he asked, "Am I dreaming or do I hear the voice of my sweet little angelbug?"

I smiled. I loved it when my daddy called me his little angelbug. Mommy often said I had my daddy wrapped around my finger. "Daddy, it's me. Abby."

Finally, he opened his eyes, and I rose on my tippy-toes to give him a kiss on his cheek. "Good morning, Daddy!"

"Good morning, baby girl. Why are you up so early?"

"Is it time?" I asked, hopping from foot to foot.

"Time?"

"To give Mommy her gift? Remember today is a special day!" I leaned forward, trying to be extra quiet so as to not wake Mommy until Daddy said that it was okay.

Daddy sat up, and I backed away as he got out of bed and grabbed his robe that was lying on the floor. He then bent to pick me up. I loved it when he did. I wrapped my arms around his neck and snuggled closer. I always felt safe in my daddy's arms.

"Why don't I make you some breakfast, and we'll let Mommy sleep a little longer? She needs her rest, angel. Does that sound good?"

"Okay. Will you make me some French toast, Daddy?"

"Yes, baby."

"And cut the crusts away like Mommy does for me?" I asked, lifting my face from where it had been resting on his shoulder to look at him and to bat my eyelashes at him.

"Of course. Promise," he replied.

"Thanks, Daddy! You're the best!"

He carried me out of their bedroom, closing the door shut behind him, and into the kitchen. He sat me down at the kitchen table with a glass of soy milk to drink. While I watched my daddy hard at work, I thought of my mommy's gift.

Daddy had taken me to the mall –to the store where it had all kinds of shiny things to choose from. Everything had been so pretty. Daddy had told me that I could pick out my own gift for Mommy and that she deserved something extra special.

"_Mommy needs something to cheer her up," Daddy said. Mommy had to rest a lot in bed lately, and I heard her yelling at Daddy a time or two that it was all his fault. I didn't really understand what she had meant. I really didn't like having my mommy mad at my daddy, but later I would hear her apologize to him and tell him that she loved him. Daddy seemed to be okay. But once I heard Mommy crying. She had sounded upset and that made me really sad so I was determined that I would find the best gift there was for her._

_Daddy tried to help me find something. He asked, "What about this? Or this?" Even the saleslady, Maria, was nice and gave me possible ideas._

_I just shook my head. I knew I would know it when I found it, and I was right. _

"_Daddy! I found Mommy's gift!" I exclaimed. _

_When he saw what I was pointing to in the glass case, he smiled. "I think you did," he said._

_It was a bracelet. "A platinum charm bracelet," Maria said. _

_I didn't really care if it was platinum or not. What I liked and why I knew it was perfect for Mommy was that it had a silver butterfly hanging from one of its links. Butterflies were my favorite. They were so pretty and colorful! And I knew that my mommy loved them as well. I was so excited!_

_Maria wrapped my gift for me in a white box, and she even let me choose what color of ribbon to use for the box. I picked pink because it was my favorite color._

_Daddy talked to the saleslady for a little while longer and bought something else. I asked him what it was, and he told me that it was a surprise for Mommy. _

_I just smiled. Surely Mommy would be happy getting two presents!_

_We left the store, and Daddy let me ride the escalator again! It was one of my favorite things about going to the mall. Mommy and Daddy always made me hold their hands when we went up or down it, but I didn't mind that part. _

_When we finally got home, Mommy was taking a nap so Daddy suggested that we make a card for Mommy as another surprise._

_He found where Mommy kept the construction paper and crayons. I got to draw on the front of the card whatever I wanted. I drew my best butterfly that I could and colored it pink and purple because purple was my favorite color last week. I wanted to put some hearts on the card, too, so Daddy cut me out a couple of pink hearts that I could glue on the front. He wouldn't let me use the scissors but that was okay with me because Mommy said that when I was bigger she would let me. I just wasn't sure how much longer I would have to wait to become bigger…_

_Daddy helped me spell out my message that I wanted to write for Mommy on the inside of the card. I already knew how to spell my name without his help. After I finished, I showed it to Daddy to look at. He smiled and said that I did a great job. _

_I was so excited that I wanted to give the card to Mommy along with her gift right then, but Daddy said that I needed to wait until Sunday. That was two whole days away! It was going to be forever…_

"Here you go, Abby," Daddy said as he placed my breakfast in front of me.

After I took a bite of French toast and swallowed, I said, "Thank you, Daddy." Mommy taught me that manners were always important.

"You're welcome, angelbug."

While I finished eating, he began making Mommy some breakfast. He said that we could wake her up with breakfast in bed.

This was going to be so great! Mommy would definitely love it!

Daddy finished cooking. He made her toast, two boiled eggs, and even fresh squeezed orange juice. Mommy needed her nutrition, he said.

As he prepared the breakfast tray, I ran to get my card and present for Mommy from my room. Together, Daddy and I headed to wake up Mommy for the day.

_xxx_

_Sara's POV_

I heard the door open for the second time. Earlier, I had heard it open, and I had decided to keep quiet at first because I loved to hear Gil interact with our daughter. He was such a wonderful father. I was about to make it aware that I was awake when Gil had said that he was going to make Abby some breakfast and, well, it would allow me to sleep a bit more. I tried not to feel too guilty.

I kept my eyes closed as I heard my daughter's footsteps draw near. I could feel her lean over and her warm breath on my face as she whispered, "Mommy? Are you awake? Mommy? Daddy made you breakfast…and I have something for you."

Slowly, I opened my eyes and smiled as I saw my daughter's cherub face and her brown eyes twinkling with excitement. "Hi, baby."

"Happy Mommy's Day!" she yelled with exuberance –as if she had been bursting to say that all morning, which knowing Abby she probably had been.

"Thank you," I told her as I leaned to give her a kiss.

Gil helped me sit up and placed a pillow behind my back. "Thanks, sweetie." I smiled at him.

He picked Abby up so that she could sit on the bed with me, and she crawled to sit beside me. He put a tray full of food in front of me and ordered me to eat. He was demanding, but God I loved him so much.

Gil took a seat near the bottom of our bed.

While I ate, Abby kept up a steady stream of conversation to entertain her father and I.

A few minutes after I had eaten most of my breakfast, Gil said, "I think our daughter might explode if she doesn't give you something."

I finished the last bite of toast and looked over at my daughter, who handed me a homemade card. It had hearts and an artistic, but childlike, depiction of a butterfly drawn on the front. "Very nice," I told Abby.

She blushed slightly. "Thanks, Mommy!"

I opened the card and read aloud the message my daughter had painstakingly written. "Happy Mother's Day to the world's best Mommy! I'm so glad you're my mommy. I love you more than all the Twix bars in the world!" I had to smile inwardly because Twix bars were Abby's absolute favorite candy. She would do anything for one. I didn't allow her to have chocolate that often, although I knew that Greg along with Nick, Warrick, and Brass (not to mention her own father) would sneak her a mini Twix bar every now and then when they thought I wouldn't find out.

Looking over the carefully written words again, I smiled once more. This child of ours was so bright. So incredibly smart and beautiful. Love filled me whenever I looked at her. I was so unbelievably lucky to have such an amazing husband and daughter.

"Thank you, baby."

"That's not all Mommy either! I got you something else!"

"You did? The card would have been enough," I told her and sat the tray of food aside.

"Uh uh. Daddy and I wanted something extra special for you," she said as she handed me a box.

"Hmmm. How do I open this?" I pretended not to know, causing Abby to giggle as I shook the box and guessed wrong things.

"Is it a box of chocolates?"

"No!"

"I know…it's a boxful of hugs from you, right?"

"Uh uh! You can't put a hug in a box, Mommy!"

"Oh, that's true. Hmmm…oh, I know. I bet it's an elephant," I teased her.

"No, Mommy! Silly! An elephant wouldn't fit," Abby informed me.

I grinned. "You know what? You're right…it's got to be something smaller…"

Abby couldn't contain herself any longer. "It's a bracelet, Mommy!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm.

I could see Gil grinning at me. Our girl had a hard time keeping a secret. We started to laugh although, of course, Abby didn't realize that we were chuckling about her inability to keep a secret for long.

"What's so funny?" she asked, face full of innocence.

"Nothing, sweetie. I just love you."

She grinned. "I love you, too, Mommy! Now open my gift? Please? The bracelet is so pretty, and it has a …"

Gil quickly interrupted our daughter. "Angelbug, why don't we let Mommy open it and find out for herself?" he suggested.

"Okay, Daddy."

I pulled the ribbon and carefully took off the lid and saw the bracelet inside. _Oh, Gil. This had to cost a fortune._ "Abby, I love it. It's beautiful, baby. Thank you…it's the best present ever." I gave her a hug and kiss while mouthing a thank you to Gil over her shoulder, which he acknowledged with a nod.

"And did you see Mommy that it has a butterfly charm on it? I know you love them just like me," our daughter said.

"I do. I see that," I replied. "It's lovely."

"I'm glad you like it, Mommy. I knew when I saw it that it was perfect for you!"

"I love it, baby. And I'm going to wear it right now," I told her, which made her eyes light up.

"YAY, Mommy!" she exclaimed as she clapped her hands together in excitement.

Gil rose and helped me put on the bracelet. Once it was on, I spent extra time ooh-ing and ahh-ing for Abby.

A few moments later, Gil said, "Abby, why don't I go put on Sesame Street for you to watch while Mommy gets dressed and ready for the day?"

"Okay! I love Sesame Street!" Abby replied and reached out her arms for her Daddy to pick her up. "I'll see you later Mommy."

Holding Abby with one arm, Gil picked up my breakfast tray and headed toward our bedroom door. "I'll be right back. I'm going to take this to the kitchen and get Abby settled."

Ten minutes later, he returned and sat on the bed again. This time, he sat next to me and kissed me. "I didn't get to greet you good morning properly since we had an audience," he said.

"It's okay," I replied, pulling him in for another leisurely kiss.

Minutes later, he broke the kiss and said, "I have something else for you," as he handed me a box I didn't notice he had been holding.

"Gil, you shouldn't have," I protested. "The bracelet was more than enough…"

He silenced me with another kiss. "If I want to spoil the woman I love…my wife then I can…"

I opened the box, and tears stung my eyes. "Oh, sweetie. They're gorgeous. Perfect. Absolutely perfect…just like you. Thank you."

Lying on a bed of cotton was a little girl charm with a ruby birthstone for Abigail and a little boy charm with a pearl birthstone.

He smiled as he placed his hand over my protruding belly and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"We can even add to the bracelet," Gil said.

"Oh, God… there's got to be at least ten more links!" I exclaimed.

He just chuckled and kissed me again…

FIN

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A/N3: Reviews are much loved and appreciated.


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